As if the rivalry between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues needed more ugliness, the on-ice microphones used for the television broadcast gathered more fuel for the fire in the aftermath of the suspension-garnering hit Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook threw on Blues captain David Backes.

Amidst the scrum which ensued, somebody can be heard saying “Wakey, wakey” to Backes, who was having all kinds of difficulty staying on his feet. The most common belief is Blackhawks alternate captain Duncan Keith is the culprit, but there can be no proof.

From the other side, Blues forward Alex Steen appears to be responding, “Show some %&@*# class” while trying to help Backes.

As well, a photo was snapped of Seabrook sporting an ear-to-ear grin after being separated by officials from the scrum.

Seabrook was handed a three-game suspension Sunday, the first of his nine-year career, but as the series shifts to Chicago for Monday's Game 3 and with the Blues holding a 2-0 edge in the best-of-seven affair, the bad blood may very well make its way across the state line from Missouri to Illinois.

“I saw them talking to him. It makes it a little more gutless,” Blues forward Ryan Reaves said after his team's optional practice in St. Louis. “I don't think there's any need for that when a hit like that happens. You don't need to be going after him when he doesn't even know where he is.

“I'm not happy about that. I don't think anybody in this organization is happy about it. To see that happen, I think is just embarrassing in that organization for that to happen.”

Neither Seabrook or Keith were made available to address the media on Sunday, and Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville - who is likely to turn to Sheldon Brookbank to fill his opening among the defencemen - said he didn't hear of any of his players taunting Backes.

Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock, who was also upset about Bryan Bickell's kneeing infraction on Vladimir Sobotka, wasn't about to weigh into the taunting issue.

“That's something that the league can deal with, Duncan's comments or his mannerisms or whatever,” Hitchcock said. “They can deal with that. I'm sure there will be somebody saying something to him.”

Whether it's a word or worse remains to be seen. Same for what happens next in what's been an entertaining series to start.

At first glance, it would be a miracle if Backes didn't suffer a concussion from Seabrook's hit and played on Monday.

“All I know is he's upright. That's about it right now,” Hitchcock said on Sunday. “We don't have any further information and probably won't until late tomorrow. I know one thing, he couldn't play today.”

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Likewise, the question out there is whether the Blues will look for any revenge in a clash that harkens back to the time when the clubs were part of the black-and-blue Norris Division – which still sounds better than the current Central Division tag.

“To tell the truth, I don’t know how they’re going to respond,” Hawks centre Michal Handzus said. “In the media, their response was they want to win it for him. It gave them the kind of necessary edge or energy, emotions to come back. But I don’t know. That’s what they are saying.

“It definitely brings the emotions, whether it’s positive or negative, any emotion is good in a playoff game. You can turn negative emotion in positive as well.”

Curiously, it's been the Blackhawks who put more effort into sending a physical message through the first two games, as opposed to simply relying on their skill to defend the championship they won last year.

“I think a little bit we might have played into their hands, but we've got to get back to our hockey,” Chicago forward Brandon Saad said. “That's how we win. At times we might have gotten out of our game, but for the most part I think we've played a couple good games here.”

It's true; the Blackhawks did play a couple of good games in St. Louis to start the series, and by no means are they down and out.

However, the fact remains they're down 2-0 to a Blues team that has even more motivation now.

The Blackhawks may consider looking at each other and say, “wakey, wakey.”